So They Became
by Kathryn Claire O'Connor
Summary: #6 in the Junior Initiative Series! With two unexpected additions to the Tower's inhabitants, love seems to be in the air - but will old hurts rise up and destroy their chances for happiness? *Ten-shot, mentions of abuse, Captain America/Agent Hill, Thor/Sif, and OC/OC*
1. Chapter 1

**Here we go; first chapter of the last story in the series! And my 200th story besides! Enjoy!:)**

* * *

"Hi."

SHIELD agent Maria Hill nearly jumped out of her skin when a strong hand came from behind her to rest on her shoulder, and she very nearly elbowed her would-be "attacker" in the chest before she whirled around to face him.

"Gosh, Steve!" she hissed through her teeth, looking wildly around when she realized she had just used his first name – something that she would never do with someone who was just a coworker, like he was supposed to be… only he wasn't just a coworker, and no one that she worked with needed to know that.

"Relax," he said, glancing with her around the alcove they were in on the edge of SHIELD's infirmary wing. "It's just you and me here."

"Well then maybe we should leave before we get caught."

"Nah, we're good for a few minutes; I'm here with some of the others to pick up Scarlet."

"Who else?" Maria asked letting her hands relax slightly around her mug of the sludge that passed for coffee around this place.

"Bruce, Clint, Natasha, and… ah, let me see if I can get their names right…" Steve squeezed his eyes closed, making a face as he hazarded, "Hayne, Hazel… Dakota, and… Blake?"

"Blaine," Maria corrected him with a small smile. She raised her steaming cup to her lips and sipped tentatively before asking, "How are they doing?"

"What do you mean?" Steve asked in confusion.

"The other seven kids besides Scarlet – how are they?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't know. This is only their third day here in New York; I don't really have a standard to judge by yet." When she sighed, he hesitantly offered, "They do seem to have a lot of nightmares, though. Insomnia. They all seem kind of… troubled."

"Aren't we all," Maria murmured, guilt slashing through her.

"Hey," Steve said gently, laying his hand on her shoulder again.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head to rest her cheek on the back of his hand, both emotionally and physically drained. She'd been here at the infirmary with Scarlet every chance she got, and seeing a fifteen year old – let alone the one that she had raised practically on her own for so many years – was hard.

"How is Scarlet?" Steve asked.

"Fine I guess. Quiet. Tired. With the day that she had yesterday plus the anesthesia working all the way out of her from the surgery and the pain meds she's on for her leg and bruises, I don't blame her. Is Hayne okay?"

"He's her boyfriend, right? The kid with glasses? He seemed distraught when we got back to the tower. Makes sense, if he's blaming himself for the staircase caving in."

Maria sighed, nodding as she decided not to say what she was thinking.

"How are _you _doing?" Steve asked gently, catching her eye.

She sighed deeply, admitting, "Sometimes I hate myself for what happened to these kids. This is just one of those instances. I raised six of those kids for years; they were my life for a decade, and I really do think of them as my own. Fury pulled me out of Vermillion and back into New York when the things that let up to the Battle of Manhattan started happening, and he never let me go back – at least not as a permanent fixture in the kids' lives. Sure, he'd drag me into it when he needed someone to hold Andy down in a lab or drop Dakota off at the spot where she was supposed to be killed, and on a really good day to be the one that Ryan saw when he woke up after the ice. But I was… I was practically their _mother _for ten years, and then Fury made me all but disappear on them, at the same time Coulson died, and they've never looked at me the same way since. I've betrayed them just like everyone else who should've looked out for them, and I hate it. I hate Fury for telling me to do it, and I hate myself for going along with it, and I hate it – all of it – for every single one of them. And I hate the fact that I really, truly don't know that they would believe me if I told them so."

The two of them stood together in silence for a second before Steve asked tentatively, "Maria… would you move into the tower if Tony was okay with it?"

She choked on her coffee, spluttering, "Steve, I'm not sure this is the appropriate time for that conversation!"

"No! That's-" he flushed, stammering, "That's not why! Not for me; for the kids. If you know them – if you're a familiar face – it might be good for them for you to be around them. Believe me, I know how nice something familiar is when all else has been upended."

"Then of course I would love to live with them again, but the better half of them don't trust me anymore, and I'm fairly certain none of them like me at this point." She lowered her voice an octave before saying, "By now, they've reduced me to being nothing more than another one of Fury's stooges, and they're all standing around waiting for me to stab them in the back. It might be better if I stayed away."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, saying, his tone both thoughtful and pointed, "Sounds like their opinion of all their biological parents, as of the day we met them – and yet you chose to bring us into their lives, even though you knew they didn't want us around. Why's that?"

"Because I knew the Avengers could and would help them, that's why."

"And you can help them, too, Ria. If nothing else, you can help _them _by helping the Avengers, as their parents, learn more about them and their interests. That in and of itself is being a help."

"I can do that without moving into Avengers Tower, Steve."

"Please, just let me ask Tony."

"Fine, you can ask."

Steve grinned, even going so far as to place a quick kiss on her forehead as he happily thanked her. She sighed, even rolling her eyes a little before she reminded him that they were, in fact, there for Scarlet, and the two of them had better get back to her room before someone came looking for them.

* * *

**Reviews would make my day if you feel so inclined! Thanks!:)**


	2. Chapter 2

Step. "Ow." Step. "Ow." Step. Overly dramatic "_Ooooow_." Scarlet finally sighed in defeat as she made her way with her little entourage of the people who had come to get her from the hospital – far too many, in her opinion, although most had been there simply as emotional support – across the garage of Avengers Tower after her release from the infirmary. She looked at Hayne, hinting not too subtly at why she was whining far more than her pain would've allowed when she said, "You know, it would be really nice if someone could carry me or something instead of asking me to use these stupid crutches on a slick cement floor."

"I'm sure it would," Hayne said with a sarcastic smile. "But the cruelty here is that despite why and how that break occurred, unless you are capable of riding piggyback at the moment – which I do not suggest considering the newness of your injury – I am not capable of carrying you."

Scarlet screamed with surprise when in the next second strong arms swept her up off of her feet, crutches and all and cradled her, carrying her across the garage.

She found herself staring into a round face and teasing blue eyes as the owner of these features said brightly while he walked with her in his arms, "That's alright; Daddy can carry you, you poor baby."

"That's not what I wanted," she huffed, finding that her emotions were flipping all around at this interaction with Clint Barton, totally new to her as it was.

And then for him to have called himself "Daddy," whether sarcastically or not… She didn't know what to think, and she didn't even know if she liked this interaction with him or not.

Her father snorted. "Oh, believe me, I know what you wanted."

Scarlet narrowed her eyes at him and snatched his dark sunglasses from off of the top of his head, putting them on herself before she crossed her arms and poked her lip out in a very childish pout. This made Clint chuckle, and she smiled herself before she wobbled in his arms and ended up throwing her arms around his neck so she wasn't pitched to the ground.

"Easy," Clint said, tightening his grip on her. "It's okay. I've got you; I won't let you fall."

For the first time in a very long time, Scarlet found herself believing an adult. Neither father nor daughter would've admitted easily to it, but there was something peaceful about letting themselves go and being together like this – especially when Scarlet leaned her head over onto his shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt totally safe in her father's strong arms – and she decided that, yes, she did like it.

* * *

Steve opened the door that separated the garage from the lab and held it open until the others were through and going up the staircase into Tony and Pepper's level of the tower.

Tony, working in the lab when they came through, winked at Dakota as she came by. Steve grinned along with father and daughter and wandered over to Tony as the others disappeared.

"Wassup, Spangled?"

"I had a thought…" Steve hazarded slowly. "The kids – they're familiar with M-Agent Hill… and I think it might be a good thing if they had something familiar around them right now. What if she moved into the tower?"

Tony stopped his work and turned to look at Steve, crossing his arms over his chest and repeating, "What if SHIELD Special Agent Maria Hill moved into Avengers Tower?"

Steve nodded hesitantly. He didn't want to give away the fact that he and Maria were dating, but he did want her to move into the tower.

"And where exactly in this tower would she being staying? The little Avengers have taken over the extra level."

"I'm sure there's an extra bedroom somewhere in this place; I know I've got one on my level."

"Good, because I can tell you right now she's not staying with me and Pepper."

"Why not? What's wrong with her?"

Tony snorted. "Where am I supposed to start with that? She kept from me the fact that I even had a son. She was in on most everything that happened to those kids. _She _was the one who delivered Dakota to what could've been her death. And she was aware that Ryan was kept on ice for how many years after he was discovered? _Seven_ years!"

Steve took a deep breath, saying, "I know that, Tony; I just think that in the long run her presence could be a good thing for the kids. I for one am fine with her staying in my spare bedroom."

Tony glared at him momentarily, and Steve got the feeling that Tony could see straight through to the truth of his relationship with Maria when the billionaire said, "I bet you don't," which was instantly followed by, "Fine. She can stay here."

"Thanks," Steve said cheerfully.

Tony didn't answer that, instead ordering sourly, "Go away; I've almost got this heat-resistance coating right."

* * *

The eight JID kids were gathered in the entertainment room of their level that evening after dinner when Scarlet suddenly had a thought and turned to Ryan, asking, "How'd you do with waking up this morning since I wasn't here to do my cartwheel for you?"

"Oh," Ryan cringed dramatically, teasing, "It was so hard. And I guess you won't be able to do it for awhile, huh?"

Sitting beside Ryan on a couch, Eif bit back a smirk when she caught sight of the smile that Hayne was suppressing from where he sat across from them on the couch with Scarlet.

"Two months with no unnecessary straining whatsoever," Scarlet said with a grimace. "I'll have to see if I can find someone else to do it instead."

"Don't look at me," Hazel said instantly.

Scarlet looked to Dakota with a smile that was quickly shut down by the fourteen year old's flat, "No."

Scarlet huffed and turned back to the show that was playing on their television.

"What about you, blondie?" Andy suggested casually, looking at Eif.

"Yeah," Scarlet said excitedly. "I bet you can do a cartwheel!"

Yes, she could, but for some reason, the idea of doing so set her heart to hammering. She glanced wildly at the boy beside her for a split second before she opened her mouth to give her own "no," but Ryan spoke before she could.

His hand gently brushed against her knee and she had to refrain from jumping at the minimal contact as he told Scarlet in a carefree tone that Eif wasn't buying, "Stop it! I am quite fine without it; thanks."

"Okay," Andy drawled. "But something as pretty as a goddess isn't going to stay single forever. Just throwing that out there for our lonely military man…"

Eif really didn't know who flushed more at that her or Ryan.


	3. Chapter 3

That was the end of the conversation on Eif's doing any cartwheels for Ryan Rogers, but it wasn't the end of her thoughts on the subject. By the next morning, she still didn't know what she was going to do. Especially not since when she started down the hallway towards the kitchen, she realized that the Avengers were once again gathered on their level to eat breakfast with them.

Then the other teenagers poured out of their bedrooms around her and Andy was at her side smirking in her ear and whispering in a tone that was far too annoying for how he had already teased her the evening before, "Twenty bucks says you can't do it."

Eif shot him a death glare and purposely didn't let herself think about it. She just darted ahead of the group and did it, and her fit of bravery even included a self-satisfied smirk and a wink aimed straight at Ryan once she landed back on her feet.

Then she took a half a step back and bumped into her father. What was going on with her running into people here?

"What was that?" Thor asked, glancing between her and Ryan.

"A dare," Eif said, acting much less flustered then what she actually was. "And you, Andy Stark, owe me twenty dollars."

From across the room, Tony and Natasha burst out laughing, and behind Eif, Hazel rolled her eyes in exasperation. Andy was smirking when he slapped the bills down into her palm; his eyes sparked with mischief, and Eif realized that she had played right into his game. She got mad at herself then and glared at Andy because of it, whirling towards the food laid out on the counter and _away _from the other teenagers.

_Why _had she let herself be so impulsive like that? She _never _did things like that – at least not in front of people that she didn't know extremely well. Yes, she'd smart off to Fandral, or tease Hogan until he actually smiled, but Sif and the Warriors Three had raised her; they were different from the Avengers, and even JID. She could trust them.

But she'd only been here in Midgard four days now – this was only the beginning of her fifth day – and she knew better – she'd _learned better _the hard way – than to relax around anyone that soon. She didn't know what to do with it though, this absolute _desire _that she had to trust these people. It wasn't just that she _thought _she could trust them, it's that she _wanted _to, and that had made her far too vulnerable far too quickly. That talk with Barton, and later her father. Letting Andy get under her skin, and her distracting, maybe even traitorous ease when around Ryan. It was all too much, far too soon, and she shouldn't trust it – but she wanted to.

Eif grabbed an apple and vanished back into her room, suddenly missing Sif and the Warriors Three with a gut-wrenching pain. They would know what to do, if only they were here.

* * *

"Dad and Thor are showing JID their training center down by the lab; do you want to come?"

At this from Eif's bedroom doorway, the blonde in question turned from staring out the window to look at Dakota. She wasn't really in the mood for company – still missing the Warriors and Sif – but it occurred to her that when she was feeling down on Asgard, Volstagg or one of the other three would drag her out to do something, and she'd probably do well to follow through with that here.

"Very well," Eif answered unenthusiastically, getting to her feet and pulling on a pair of shoes before she followed Dakota down the hallway.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dakota asked in concern, looking sideways at her with mature blue eyes.

Eif nodded, and the two girls made it down to the training level without another word between them. The last ones there, they just stood off to the edge, backs against a wall as they watched for a minute. Tony was showing most of the kids how to work a hologram projector that could project targets for both shooting and fighting, and Thor was watching Ryan and Blaine go a round in a boxing ring.

A few minutes passed before Tony interrupted his hologram explanation mid-sentence to exclaim, "Okay, what is that rattling?"

"Rattling?" Dakota repeated, looking around the room.

"Yes, rattling, from over there, I think." All noise stopped in the room as Tony nodded towards a wall that was one big weapon wrack, divided into sections for each Avenger's weaponry.

Hazel was the first to notice, asking, "Is that sword _moving_?"

"That's impossible," Thor said, turning to look at the sword that was in fact rattling. "The only way that happens is if it's got a connection on it – a spell like Mjolnir has to come to me."

"I've never even seen you use that sword," Tony said, watching the piece warily.

"That's because I don't, not really. It was a gift from Sif, so I took it with me when I came to earth, but using it just never felt right."

Despite that, Thor experimentally raised his arm toward the gold-handled sword, wordlessly beckoning it to come to him as he did Mjolnir – but nothing changed. The sword didn't stop rattling, but it didn't move towards Thor either.

"Weird," Tony muttered.

Eif could tell that her father had just gotten an idea when he murmured, "Perhaps not… Daughter come here."

It took her a second to realize that he meant her, and even then, she moved very hesitantly towards him, asking, "Yes?"

He pulled her over to stand in front of him and said, "Put your arm out like I just did."

Her moves were hesitant, especially when she realized what he was thinking, and so her father put his arm over hers, guiding her until her arm and hand were positioned correctly. Then suddenly there was a whir of air and the abrupt slap of the sword's cold handle in her palm.

Instinctively wrapping her fingers around the weapon, Eif gasped as she took it in. Intricate designs on a sturdy gold handle. Glittering, unbendable blade. Cold, solid, and… right. Despite what her father thought of the sword, it felt… just… _right_ in her hand.

A slow smile spread across her face as she looked up at her father, only to find him grinning broadly back at her.

"I believe that belongs to you now," Thor told her. Eif looked back down at the sword as her father asked her, "Have you been taught anything of swordplay?"

"Sif and Fandral taught me some," Eif answered with newfound confidence before she whirled to face the room, sword at the ready, before she asked, "Anyone want to help me try this out?"

No one moved to take her on, and Eif only laughed, turning her new weapon in her hand and feeling extremely glad that she had come out of her room.


	4. Chapter 4

"This is a bad idea," Maria told Steve nervously as she got out of her car when she came to the tower with her suitcase later in the day.

"No, it's not. I even talked to the other Avengers about it, and they all agreed with me. Tony and Pepper are the only ones who really have any reservations about it."

"Reservations that I totally understand."

"It'll be fine," Steve promised, getting her suitcase for her before he gave her a kiss on the forehead and took her hand as they headed towards the elevator.

"What do the kids think about the idea?" Steve's steps hitched for a split second and Maria noticed, saying warily, "Steve…? You _did _tell them I was moving in here, right?"

An elongated pause and then a hesitant, "Not exactly."

"Steven Grant Rogers!" Maria whirled to face him as they stepped into the elevator and began to ascend. "You didn't tell them I was coming at all, did you?"

Being trapped in an elevator with an enraged woman obviously set the captain off kilter, especially when that woman was his girlfriend, and Steve moved as far away from her as he could while answering, "No…"

Maria huffed, repeating, "So they don't know anything about this?"

"Probably not."

She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her back to him, taking a couple of deep breaths as she determined that she was not going to step off of this elevator looking as mad as what she actually was. "Where am I staying in the tower?"

"In my guest bedroom."

She faced him again, saying aghast, "You told Tony Stark we were dating!"

"No! I told Tony Stark I was willing to let you stay on my level so he would let you in the tower."

The elevator doors slid open and Steve's level was mercifully empty as they got out, both aggravated. "Where are the kids?"

"Tony and Thor probably have them in the training center still."

"Good. Then I'm taking my suitcase up to my room and I'm going out for awhile."

"I've got your suitcase," Steve said, his frustrations draining away quicker than hers. She nodded and turned on her heel back to the elevator, stopping only when he grabbed her arm. "Maria, wait." She sighed as he said softly, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything to the kids. Dr. Banner came up with the idea of ordering a pizza and watching a movie here tonight to maybe 'ease the blow' to them or something like that. Maybe you wanna just show up there?"

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Steve muttered, "No worse than the rest of my ideas for this situation, I guess."

Maria put a hand on his shoulders, saying comfortingly, "You're trying here and so am I. So maybe we get off to a rocky start; it won't be the first time I've made a move they've hated. If nothing else think of it this way: if we totally bomb tonight and they won't speak to an adult for a week – don't look at me like that; they've done it before and are entirely capable of doing it again – then we have nowhere to go but up and things can only become easier, right?"

Steve groaned, letting his forehead fall onto her shoulder.

"It's okay…" Maria promised, running a hand through his hair. "But I really do need to go get some more things from my apartment. I promise I'll be back in time for pizza."

"If I let you go…" Steve said slowly, head rising from her shoulder with bright eyes and a smirk that he saved only for her.

"If?" Maria repeated incredulously.

"_If _I let you disappear for the rest of the day, you have to promise me that when you do your big reveal you'll be wearing something beside your uniform."

"What's wrong with my uniform?" Maria asked, looking down at the black jumpsuit.

"Absolutely nothing. I like it; I just like seeing you wear something different sometimes too."

"_You _do?" Maria raised her eyebrows teasingly. "And here I thought you might just want me to present a less intimidating image for the JID kids…"

Steve shrugged, saying innocently, "Yeah, that too."

Maria grinned, giving him a quick kiss and remarking, "I bet Stark's arc reactor would fall right out of his chest if I had Jarvis email the audio footage of this conversation to him."

"I don't know… I think he may be onto us. You wouldn't anyway."

"You're right," Maria sighed. "As a matter of fact, you better delete this footage, Jarvis; don't let it get back to Stark."

"Yes, Agent Hill."

Maria gave Steve one more kiss and then, "Anyway," as she turned and went back into the elevator. "Back for pizza, no uniform. Got it."

* * *

But Maria was kind of wishing she had her uniform when she headed into the entertainment room of Steve's level of the tower that evening. It was what the teenagers were used to seeing her in, and they were already going to be unsettled enough by the permanency of her presence as it was. What she was wearing – purple sequined top and jeans with her hair hanging loose about her shoulders – was definitely different, and so many things had already changed for them this week…

As it was, there was no time for her to change now as she came from the hallway and out into the open light of the doorway.

"Hey," Natasha spoke up. "Look who's here."

They all turned to look at her and Hayne eventually asked, "Maria?"

"Don't you recognize me?" she asked with a smile.

"No," Hazel said.

"Well… I guess all you've seen since the Battle of Manhattan is Agent Hill, but you're going to get Maria back now… since I'm moving into the tower."

"Is that so?" Andy asked, his dark eyes sparking with a warning as he looked at her. "And where exactly in this tower will you be staying?"

"In my extra bedroom," Steve said with a warning of his own in his tone as he made room for Maria on the couch beside him and gestured her over.

"Is that… appropriate, captain?" Andy asked with that same angry, superior tone. "I mean, if she's not at least your girlfriend or something?"

Steve stiffened beside her on the couch and Maria blinked in surprise as he answered, "And what if she is my girlfriend?"

"I would say that's old news to some of us."

"I knew it!" Tony crowed.

"Hey," Maria said loudly. "Can you all just stop it?!" She caught the eye of each teenager in turn as she said, "Listen, I completely understand why you would – why you _do _– hate me, but I really just want to help. Atone for my sins, if you will. Whether or not any of you guys want to admit it, I am the only adult on the planet who really knows most of you very well at all, and I look forward to getting to know Ryan and-"

"-Demi-" Andy broke in.

"If you're willing to let me."

Silence and a series of tense glances passed between the eight teenagers before a small voice – the last one Maria had expected to speak to her – spoke the last words she'd expected to hear.

From Dakota the three simple words, "I forgive you."

And if Dakota forgave her, she knew the seven others would follow suit as well. And they would. It would take time, just like it would take them time to get close to their biological parents, but it would happen eventually. And that was all that Maria could ask for.


	5. Chapter 5

From that night on, there was never any real guarantee as to where you might find any given teenager in the house sleeping throughout the night. Ryan took to Captain America's couch Maria's first night in the tower and Hayne set up camp in Blaine's bedroom since the day had been such a big one, just in case a dart was needed. Dakota slept in Scarlet's room, and Eif wandered throughout the house, wanting to sleep but hating the Loki-shaped nightmares that were haunting her that night.

Having been dragging the blanket on her bed around behind her like a cape, she eventually collapsed in the elevator in the early hours of the morning, and didn't even wake when Pepper found her there on her way to the teens' level of the floor. Although startled at her discovery, Pepper didn't touch her, and so the second person to stumble upon the goddess was Ryan on his way to the JID floor to change into day clothes once he'd woken up on his father's level.

Disturbed to find the blonde girl slumped on the elevator floor beneath a quilt, displayed for the moment as sheer exhaustion and kinks that were going to hurt like nothing else whenever she woke up, Ryan waited until the elevator had started its ascent and then stopped the contraption on its course. He hadn't expected the darkness that came with the stop, but he didn't mind it. He folded himself down onto his knees and brushed a few fine blonde hairs out of Eif's face so that he could get a better look at her.

This close to her, Ryan could see that like many of the others in the tower, she had dark circles under her eyes that spoke of not sleeping well, and his heart hurt for her. He'd been around the other teenagers long enough to be able to guess what they saw behind their eyelids at night, but this was only Eif's sixth day on earth, and he couldn't help but wonder what horrors she had seen or gone through in her life.

He knew – as did everyone else – that Loki had made her life a living nightmare on Asgard. Did she relive that nightmare even here in Avengers tower? He frowned at the idea, shifting to sit shoulder to shoulder with her, and carefully moving her head so that it was resting on his shoulder instead of lolling painfully to the side. She mumbled something in her sleep and curled into him a little more, making heat scorch Ryan's face.

If someone caught them in here…

But then Eif muttered sleepily, "You made Loki go away… my thanks," still not even halfway coherent, Ryan knew, but her words negated his worry over being found. Helping her was more important anyway.

"You're welcome," he whispered.

He reached ever so carefully up and started the elevator on its way again. When the doors slid open on JID's floor, he debated upon taking her into his arms and carrying her into her bedroom to get some more sleep, but she clambered slowly to her feet instead, apparently more away than he had thought her to be. She gathered her blanket into her arms and kissed him gently on the cheek with a sleepy smile, still only half awake.

"Thank you, Ryan."

And then she was gone down the hallway, leaving Ryan standing in the elevator and feeling a little stunned as he realized that a girl had just kissed him for the first time in his life.

* * *

"Heimdall!"

Lady Sif," Heimdall said dryly, his back turned to the approaching lady warrior. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about our young queen."

"You well know what's been going on, gatekeeper. The Warriors Three and I have been hard at work setting up a council to rule Asgard after Loki's demise, and I only now felt that I could get away to retrieve Eif. Where is she? Is she well? Safe? Ill? Injured?"

"How goes the council, Lady Sif? Are not the Warriors Three the entirety of its composition?"

"They are," Sif answered. "Per Thor's departing request as it would've been carried out years ago when the crown prince originally departed were it not for Loki's takeover. This means – since the Three are now relatively settled into their roles as heads of a greatly relieved realm – that I may see to Thor's daughter. Now, please, where may I go to retrieve Eif?"

"She does not wish to be retrieved," Heimdall told her calmly.

Sif raised her eyebrows, suppressed impatience blossoming as she asked, "Then where is she?"

"Midgard."

"Midgard? But the only Midgardian she knows of is Jane Foster, and she has no fondness for the woman at all." Sif paused, realizing, "Although, there is the…" Heimdall turned to her, a slow light coming into his eyes as Sif asked, "Do you mean to tell me that Eif is with the Avengers?"

"As she has been for a full Midgardian week now."

"And what of Thor?" Sif asked, her heart rate speeding a bit at the thought of that scenario.

"Father and daughter have enjoyed getting to know one another. She does miss you, although she's making many friends… having perhaps even caught the eye of a boy."

"Who?!"

"The son of another Avenger; his name is Ryan Rogers."

"Rogers…" Sif murmured, looking down at her shield in her hand as she considered the name.

"You wish to go to Eif and Thor, then?" Heimdall asked suddenly.

"What?" Sif asked in surprise.

"You said the council no longer has need of your assistance, in which case you would like to see Eif, who is on Midgard with Thor." Heimdall looked at her knowingly as he summed it up with, "This requires you to go to Midgard and reunite with both father and daughter, does it not?"

Sif took a deep breath, one hand tightening on her shield and the other on her sword as she thought this over. Yes, she loved Thor, even now – even after he had left her for Jane Foster, whom he had never regained contact with either, without any idea of Sif's feelings for him – though she hadn't seen him for nearly seventeen years. Seventeen years and her heart still hammered anxiously at the idea of being near him again. But she had to go see Eif.

"I should tell the Warriors Th-"

"Guard," Heimdall spoke to a man standing at attention at the edge of the room. "Go tell the Warriors Three that Lady Sif is going to Midgard to see the queen and her father."

The guard nodded and disappeared, leaving Sif to take a deep breath before saying resolutely, "Very well, to Midgard, please, Heimdall."

Her grip tightened on her weapons and then the rainbow bridge surrounded her and Lady Sif was on her way to Avengers tower.


	6. Chapter 6

"What the heck was that!" Hazel screeched, running to the window in the training center where the JID kids were gathered.

Six of the others shot ideas back and forth as they crowded around her at the window, none of them realizing that Eif was hanging back, curious but on edge as she held her sword at her side, ready to fight depending on who was going to emerge from the rainbow bridge.

"Eif, tell them that was from Asgard," Andy suddenly demanded, turning towards her.

She nodded calmly, saying simply, "He's right," as she edged past the others to see who was left behind when the bi-frost disappeared.

"What just landed in my yard?!" Tony demanded agitatedly, coming into the training room from the lab with Bruce at his side.

But as the last of the bi-frost's light vanished, leaving the woman it had brought to earth in plain view, Eif only screamed.

"What?" Ryan asked, picking up his shield as Andy engaged his suit and Hazel hulked.

Eif ignored them all, darting past Tony and Bruce, into the lab and then the garage before skidding to a halt in the yard when she threw herself into the arms of the woman warrior, hugging her mother-figure fiercely as she cried, "Sif!"

"Eif," Sif gasped, returning the embrace just as fervently before she took a step back and looked her over quickly, searching for even a hair out of place. "How are you?"

"Fine!" Eif said, still grinning widely. "Oh, Sif, I was afraid I would never see you again!"

"Don't be silly; of course I would never abandon you!"

Eif laughed and hugged her again before asking eagerly, "And what of Asgard?"

"The Warriors Three have become councilmen now."

"So it is finally as Father wished it to be seventeen years ago?"

Sif nodded, looking around them at the tower they stood outside of as she asked, "Speaking of which, where is your father?"

"He's inside." Eif gasped then, taking Sif's hand and all but dragging her inside the training room with an excited, "You have to meet everyone!"

Sif could only laugh as she was hurried through a room full of automobiles and another room containing lab equipment – until she registered what waited for her and Eif in the final room. Seven teenagers – all appearing variously armed and at the ready – Ironman in his suit, and Dr. Banner, hovering warily at the back of the crowd.

"No, you idiots!" Eif said sharply, knocking a gun out of the hand of a girl on crutches as she explained, "This is _Sif_. Surely I have mentioned her."

"The Sif who raised you?" the boy holding a shield asked, eyeing Sif warily.

"Yes!" Eif nodded emphatically, putting a hand of the shield until the boy lowered it.

"You're sure she's safe?" a Latino boy asked.

Eif glared at him, ordering, "Do not make me get my sword. I swear to you, she means no harm to any of us."

"I only wanted to come see Eif's wellbeing for myself," Sif said calmly, speaking up for herself as she laid one on Eif's shoulder and the other on the hilt of her sword.

"Eif?" Ironman repeated. "So that's your name, huh, blondie?"

Sif looked at Eif in confusion and Eif offered simply, "They know me as 'Demi' here."

"Hey, Point Break," Ironman said to someone behind Sif and Eif. "Did you know that Demi's name is actually Eif?"

"So I heard," Thor said, and Eif could all but hear Sif's heart hit her throat as both Asgardians turned towards the god and the other Avengers that were gathered behind him.

"Thor," Sif said, nodding her head by way of greeting.

Thor smiled carefully, returning in kind, "Lady Sif."

Hayne, who had been standing back by his father, started muttering, "Sif? Sif, Sif, Sif," and then to Eif as he got his hands on a tablet and started tapping away, "Wait a second; Sif?! The Sif? _That _Sif?"

"What do you mean?" Eif asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked at Hayne.

"The same Sif as the one that's in mythology?"

"Probably," Eif said. "Why?"

"Come look at this," Hayne ordered, holding the tablet out to her.

Eif took it awkwardly, unaccustomed to the device, and silently read the passage that he pointed out. _In both the _Poetic Edda _and the _Prose Edda_, Sif is the wife of the thunder god Thor_…

"Odin's beard…" Eif breathed, a slow smile blossoming across her face as she stared at those words.

"But they're not, are they?"Hayne asked. "It's not like that?"

"No," Thor answered confidently, apparently having figured out what they were looking at.

Hayne leaned in closer to Eif, asking for her ears only, "Has it ever been or could it ever be like that?"

"When they were young and foolish, I believe it was, yes; then – according to the Warriors Three – she became his warrior and it ended amicably."

"I am going to kill all three of the Warriors," Thor said flatly.

"Don't you dare; they raised me," Eif said, her eyes cutting to her father and then back to Hayne as she said, "And that other question probably deserves a whole other JID meeting to explain. It all makes so much more sense now! How could I have been so stupid as to not see this before?"

"I don't know," Andy said evenly. "But whatever it is, if there's any way we can help you get it – whatever 'it' is – ironed out, I'm sure the rest of JID is more than willing to help if you'd like us to."

"Oh," Eif grinned, tapping the tablet in her hand as she looked around at JID and then pointedly towards Thor and Sif as she said, "I would like what I just read to happen very much."

Scarlet, who had come up behind Eif and read the online excerpt that the goddess had been directed to, answered cheerfully, "Well then, who are we to refuse a queen the assistance of those loyal to her?"

And just like that, JID swept themselves away and into Eif's bedroom, leaving a handful of confused Avengers and two very wary Asgardians in their wake.


	7. Chapter 7

After Sif had gotten reasonably settled into the tower – it had been decided with little to no actual conversation that she would stay on Thor's floor – and changed into Midgardian clothes, Thor came into his guest bedroom where she was staying and suggested, "Would you care to accompany me on a walk?"

"Where to?" Sif asked, trying not to show how on edge she was around her old friend.

Here not even an hour and already she felt it was getting ridiculous. Worse yet, what if Thor actually got around to getting a clue as to her feelings for him?

"Just around New York, I suppose. There are many things to see here, and I'd like to speak with you privately."

"Then could we not just speak here?"

"I don't always trust Jarvis; Tony's artificial intelligence and security cameras record nearly everything that goes on in this tower."

Sif didn't ask for an explanation as to what those things were – she didn't really care at the moment – just accepted the pair of running shoes that Thor handed her and slipped them on. They went in silence down the elevator and out of the house, walking together in tandem until Thor led her to a bistro near the tower. There was very little sightseeing involved, so it didn't take a mastermind to deduce that Thor was instead concentrating on the impending conversation he desired to have.

"What is it you wished to speak to me about?" Sif asked once they were settled at a table for two.

His blunt question surprised her as did his insight when he asked, "Have I offended you in some way?"

A quick and easy "no" sprung easily to the tip of her tongue, but when she looked into his earnest eyes, she realized that he wanted a real answer. He wanted – maybe even deserved – the truth.

So she paused, considering both her hands and her answer before she said, "People" – not "I" but "people" – "were hurt when you left Asgard."

"Surely you know I never meant for anyone to suffer because of my actions, let alone under Loki's rule."

"But regardless of what you meant to happen, Loki took over and it all went Hel after that."

"For which I am truly sorry, Sif," Thor said softly, then he paused, looking at her with a wariness of the answer he might receive when he asked the question, "Did Loki… hurt you?"

Sif took a deep breath, gaze going back to her hands, to the street, to anywhere but Thor and she eventually answered, "He was always infatuated with me… but the Warriors Three were careful guardians of me and Eif when they could be. He, Loki, um," and here came the tears that she hated, pressing against the backs of her eyes as she reached for the napkin holder on the table and began to shred one, trying to form an appropriate answer. "He never struck me, never hurt me so that it could be seen by others afterwards, but he… he had learned," Sif flinched, saying, "I guess with Eif, that… he… a couple of times he came into my bedchambers at night." Her chest heaved as she desperately kept her tears at bay, continuing, "He told me that if I didn't allow him to do what he desired with me, then he would be doing these same things to Eif so I never fought him. He used sex as subjugation and someone I love as a daughter to buy my submission. I just… felt so helpless. She was his wife, and by all rights and viewpoints there was nothing I or any of the Warriors could do to get her away from his tortures, so if there was any way I could spare her even for a moment, then I was willing to do it."

She glanced up at Thor with glassy eyes then and found him pale as a sheet as he fisted and opened his hand. Did he desire something on which to release his obvious fury or was he going to pass out?"

"Thor? Thor, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell you those things. Forgive me."

"You need never ask forgiveness for something you could not control," Thor said in a low voice, finally meeting her eyes with a gentle care that startled her she was so unused to it. "It is I who am sorry. I should've come home; I should've made sure Loki was kept more restrained and maybe he never would've gotten on the throne to begin with; I should've-"

"Thor, stop." Thor drew up short when she interrupted him, and she took a deep breath before saying, "Don't think like that. You'll kill yourself wishing you had done things differently when there's nothing that can be done to change the past. You can only start from right now and work towards fixing what's already happened."

"How can I fix it?" he asked genuinely.

There was an opening for her to tell him the truth. Another one, just like so many others she'd had before he took up residence on Midgard. She still loved him, but – regardless of what the JID kids might be planning – she couldn't tell him that. Certainly not here and now in the middle of this conversation. So she only shrugged.

They sat together in silence for a moment then, and a serving girl came to their table. They both ordered a piece of pie, but when the food came neither felt like eating it.

There was more silence between them then covered by the sounds of the city around them until Thor said at length, "Forgive me for my timing, Lady Sif, but you have spoken so freely here. May I do the same?"

"Of course."

He cocked his head to the side then, considering her as he asked, "Do you ever think of when we were Eif's age?"

Sif smiled lightly, picking at her pie. Things had been so different then. On the edge of adulthood, and old enough to realize that was a frightening prospect, they had frittered away endless days – sometimes with the Warriors Three and Loki, sometimes without – on the more pleasant realms like Asgard and Vanaheim , training and spying on others, running around being children. Often when the Thor and Sif were alone, the crown prince had taken her into his arms and kissed her, peppering her with praise and telling her that despite the many mistakes in mythology – things like the fact that Sigyn didn't even exist – the stories had gotten _them _right, and one day he would make her his queen. They were silly and sixteen and in love and she had believed his every word. Then they had grown up, she had been content to trade in the idea of bearing Thor's children for bearing arms at his side, and things had changed between them.

Sometimes she wished they hadn't.

"I remember," she said fondly.

"What if… I told you I still feel the way I did back then?"


	8. Chapter 8

On the heels of her shock came a sudden, unexpected flare of anger as she answered hotly, "Then I would ask you what in the name of all the Nine Realms was Jane Foster?"

Thor flinched before answering, "A silly infatuation and a mistake. I thought she could handle what a relationship with me meant, but she could not. I tried to contact her once I found her again in London after I came back to Midgard, but she refused to speak to me, eventually having her intern tell me to leave her alone. I don't know why, but since meeting Eif, I've come to realize that it's for the best that way."

"Thor," Sif had a sudden thought. "When was it that you contacted her again?" He named the date and Sif replied quietly, "That was only a week after she'd sent Eif up to Asgard."

Thor sighed deeply, saying, "So I hurt her too, and now she hates me."

"If she can't forgive faults, then she wasn't meant for you anyway," Sif teased lightly, hoping to see some of the tension leave his expression.

But when he looked at her then his question was not what she had expected, "Can you forgive me my faults, good Lady Sif, grievous as they are? I'm no blind fool; I trampled on you – on the feelings I knew you still had – in my own stupidity and took your presence for granted only to abandon you to my brother's tyranny. I'd blame you not a whit if you never spoke to me again."

"What does my forgiving you mean for us?" she asked carefully.

He answered honestly, laying his heart bare as he said, "A second chance at winning your heart, I hope."

"Who said you ever lost it?" she asked with a bright smile.

It looked to her like he didn't breath for a second, and then he stood to his feet and drew her to hers, whispering as he drew her close, "May I kiss you?"

"You never have to ask," she replied softly, letting her eyelids flutter closed as he did as he'd asked, closing the last of the distance between them and kissing her with emotion that the boy that he had been hadn't even thought to possess.

He searched her eyes, saying, "I don't think I ever stopped loving you. Jane blinded me, but I see clearly now, and the mythology still knows us well. If you'll have me, I'll be yours alone until the end of all time."

She hated to ask, but she had to know, so she whispered painfully, "Even with what I told you of Loki's actions towards me?"

"All I heard was of a loving mother trying to spare her daughter grief; Loki's actions have no affect on how high a regard I hold you in. I'm only sorry that you were hurt."

Sif almost laughed as she laid her head on his shoulder, admitting, "I'm doing very well now, thank you."

Thor lifted her head with a finger under her chin, smiling as he answered her lightness with "I'm glad I could be of assistance to you."

And he kissed her again.

Sif broke the contact, Eif suddenly flashing through her thoughts. "We should probably go tell Eif something of this."

"Why not let her just figure it out on her own?" Thor asked mischievously. "Do you think she'd like that?"

"Perhaps," Sif conceded. "But then we'd have to endure whatever she and her companions come up with until they realize what's actually going on."

"Oh, let them play. What harm can it do?"

Sif smiled and nodded, "Very well."

* * *

"They're baaaaaaaaaaack," The Latino that Thor had told Sif was named Andy sang out as Thor and Sif came walking into the training room upon their returning to the tower.

"Great!" Eif said cheerfully, rushing up to them as she said, "Sif, I forgot to show you something!"

"Oh?" Sif asked with a smile. "What's that?"

"I've been practicing my swordplay, and I've gotten very good at it, if I may say so myself."

Sif looked at her through narrowed eyes, smirking as she said, "Surely you're not after a dual with the best swordswoman in all of the Nine Realms, are you?"

"That is precisely what I desire," Eif said confidently. "_And _the loser must kiss Father – at least on the cheek."

Thor barely bit back a laugh from behind them, and Sif shot him a look as if to ask _what's going on here? _The thunder god didn't bother hiding his smile, but he didn't say a word.

"Very well," Sif said, blinking in surprise when the boy who'd had a shield earlier in the day handed her her sword and shield. Taking a step back towards Thor, she asked under her breath, "I correctly sense a trick here already, don't I?"

"Perhaps," Thor said with that same teasing smile.

He wasn't going to tell her a thing, so she rolled her eyes at him and strode towards the boxing ring that Eif already stood in.

"You seem to be forgetting something, little one," Sif said, half taunting her in the spirit of the competition.

"She's right," the boy who'd given Sif her weapons spoke up. "It doesn't seem fair that she gets a shield when you don't. Here, use mine."

So Eif took the boy's five-pointed shield, and Sif realized from the weapon's shape and patriotic paint job that the boy must be the famous Ryan Rogers.

If they had been looking to unnerve her with that little fact, Sif was left undeterred, saying, "I meant a sword, silly goose."

"Oh, yes," Eif said coolly. "I suppose I do need one of those, don't I?"

The younger Asgardian put her arm out horizontally at her side, smirking with confidence and watching the look on Sif's face change when a sword came to Eif like Mjolnir did to Thor. Since when had a sword been bonded to Eif Foster?!

Sif looked over her shoulder at Thor, glaring. "D*** you, Thor Odinsson you knew about this, didn't you?"

He just laughed gleefully.

"You will pay for this, you have my word."

"Ah," he grinned, eyes sparkling with mirth as he said, "But it just might be worth it to see this battle. Go on," he nodded towards Eif, instructing Sif, "Give her a run for her money." And then to Eif, "Daughter, don't strip away her every last ounce of dignity at once."

"I shall try, Father."

"You will try," Sif said to Eif, "But you won't win."

"Quit stalling and prove it," Andy called out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the wait for an update, but real life conspired to leave me in an internet-free zone for most of the week. Hopefully this will be worth the delay, though!:)**

* * *

Sif let Eif make the first swing, jumping quickly back and away from the blow that was confidently aimed at her cheek. On Asgard, Sif and the Warriors had made sure that Eif was comfortable with most any weapon they put in her hand, but she hadn't truly mastered any, even though her bow and arrow skills had come close. However, it soon became abundantly clear to Sif that Eif felt as comfortable with her sword as she did with the winter weather that could be produced directly from her hand. It was an even fight, and that, if nothing else caught Sif off guard.

Both held up well for awhile, but when the fight showed no signs of stopping, Eif got bored and started using acrobatic moves that she had learned directly from Sif and Fandral, starting with jumping out of the ring. Sif paused and stared at her opponent for a second then while the others who were still watching the duo cheered.

Eif taunted, "Frightened, warrior?"

"Not at all, my queen," Sif returned evenly springing easily to the ground in front of Eif and taking a swing towards her shoulder.

Eif spun away, taking in a ragged breath as she jumped up onto the seat of an exercise machine and countered Sif's thrust, kneeling for a split second to aim at Sif's knees.

Sif fell back onto the edge of the boxing ring and used the forward momentum to launch at Eif, saying, "Fandral would be proud."

Eif jumped over Sif's sword as it sliced at nothing but air before asking knowingly, "And you're not?"

"I think I may still be in shock," Sif said with a half laugh, making an executive decision as she looked at the exhausted but determined girl. "And that," she said, dropping onto one knee in a bow meant to be directed at a queen. "Is why I acquiesce to your terms of my surrender, dear Eif."

Eif grinned, jumping down from off of the machine as she accused, "You're letting me win."

"Rather than continue for the rest of the day, yes – and besides," Sif smirked at the girl here, "Your terms are none to grievous nor unfamiliar an action for myself."

"I knew it!" Eif screamed gleefully, and both Sif and Thor burst out laughing before Eif regained her composure and said to Sif, teasingly and in a perfectly arrogant mockery of Loki, "Very well; I accept your surrender. On your feet, good Lady Sif, and pay what you owe."

Suddenly Thor was behind the woman warrior, setting her on her feet and spinning her around to face him before he captured her around the waist and kissed her soundly.

"That's it?" Andy asked indignantly. "It's really going to be that simple to get them together?"

"Not exactly," Dakota spoke up, looking at the two Asgardians shrewdly as they ended the kiss. "Wherever he took her earlier, they talked about it." She asked Thor "Didn't you?"

"What makes you think that?" the god inquired.

Dakota opened her mouth and closed it, seeming to sort through a number of answers before she decided upon, "It's kind of written all over your face."

"Is it?" Sif asked.

"It is," Dakota nodded. "Anyway, Andy, what that means for JID is that our job here is done, so you need to _stay out of it_."

Ryan snorted at the very idea of Andy staying out of anyone's business and Andy turned to him, saying pointedly, "That's alright; I've got someone else's love life to unscrew-up for him."

"Only in your gayest dreams," Dakota purred at him.

Andy turned ever so slowly to face his sister, aggravation written across his features as he said flatly, "You have five seconds to run, or you will die."

"Buddy, we're in a tower full of Avengers; it's not a good idea to kill the youngest, sweetest person here."

Andy stalked off to the lab, saying, "Youngest? Yes. Sweetest? Never."

"A matter of opinion entirely," Eif said to Dakota with a smile.

"Oh, believe me, Eif," Dakota said with a knowing look of her own. "We all know who you think the sweetest person in this place is – and it isn't any of the adults."

Then Dakota followed her brother into the lab to smooth things over with him after her remark.

Ryan sighed, saying, "I reallywish he would just stop with that. I've never had a girlfriend before, and I don't need one now."

"Never?" Eif asked in surprise, handing him his shield.

Ryan shook his head. "I grew up in the isolated British countryside with no one but my mother and then I was a block of ice for over fifty years. That doesn't leave me with much time for a social life, let alone dating."

"Hm," Eif cocked her head to the side considering, "You know, I've never had a boyfriend either." She snorted. "I was married for the past six years, but I've never been courted… had a boyfriend, whichever you prefer. Does suffering through social appearances on Loki's arm count as dates?"

"I don't think so," Ryan answered. "Not if you qualify it as suffering."

"I thought not," she smiled. "But either way – tempting though I admit it is to my sixteen year old self – I think I shall wait awhile before I start 'dating' someone, that way I can perhaps observe more of their temperament before I begin to emotionally invest myself in them."

"That's smart," Ryan agreed before he said so very carefully, hoping she'd catch his drift and then knowing by the sparkle in her eyes that she had, "I'm going to wait for a special person too." A pause and then, "I guess we've both got enough to figure out within ourselves before we try and get involved in a romantic relationship."

Eif's eyes narrowed just barely as she wondered whether or not he knew how what he had just said could be taken, but she didn't mind the words no matter how he meant them. "You're right. You need to figure out the microwave, and I need to figure out who I'm capable of being out from under Loki's tyranny…" she laughed, adding, "as well as the microwave, I suppose."

"Well," Ryan grinned, a double meaning underneath the light statement as he said, "I did figure out the microwave yesterday, so maybe I could help you figure your stuff out, if you want me to."

Eif paused to consider this before she admitted softly, "I'd like that."

The duo looked nervously at one another, flashing uncertain grins before they disappeared in opposite directions, pleased with the deal they had struck and ignoring the way Thor and Sif were trying not to grin at them.


	10. Chapter 10

**Last chapter of the last story in the series! So bittersweet...**

* * *

The next morning, Eif – having chosen to sleep the night before on a couch in her father's level of the tower – exited the elevator on the JID floor along with Sif and Thor. It had quickly become a morning habit that everyone in the tower ate breakfast on the JID level so that they could catch up with one another before they went their separate ways for the day.

Making sure that Eif was going to join the throng of her peers pouring down the hallway in front of Thor and Sif, the former grabbed the latter's arm, stalling her and whispering in her ear, "Watch Eif and Ryan."

They weren't disappointed. Just like Eif had every day since Scarlet's return from the hospital, the young goddess did a quick cartwheel as she went ahead of the others, making sure that Ryan was watching her. As she did not _always _do, but this time did, she winked at the boy – decidedly a touch more flirtatious than normal, which made Ryan color amusingly.

"_What _was that?" Sif hissed with wide eyes as they began meandering towards the kitchen again. "And how did you know she was going to do it?"

"It's just a habit that Scarlet started before we met the children," Thor explained with a small smile. "Eif took it over once Scarlet was hurt. Simple as that."

"She really does like him you know," Sif said thoughtfully, watching the thunder god carefully for any signs of misgivings.

"I do know."

"And that doesn't bother you?" she asked, stopping at the edge of the hallway.

"No," Thor said, staying at her side . "She's being extremely careful and guarding her emotions very well I think."

"He's a seventeen year old boy, Thor."

"An exceptionally kind and good one – and not just, I suspect, because of the way he was raised. From what I've seen, he genuinely cares for her – even enough to stop Andy's matchmaking attempts despite his own desires that such a thing come to pass. He wants her to have the time and space she needs to heal from Loki's abuses, and then, perhaps, they will take their feelings further. Who's to say?"

"Look at the way she just looked at him!" Sif protested. "'Time to heal,' my eye! She's already decided that Loki doesn't get to win, and because of that I'd wager that she's very close to doing something to make their friendship a little closer."

Thor narrowed his eyes, considering the relaxed, happy way his daughter was interacting with Ryan in the kitchen. "Perhaps a month, do you think?"

"Considering how many people are trying to get them to become a couple-"

"-You mean Andy-"

"-I do- I'd put my bet upon a week."

"Really?" Thor asked, looking at her with eyebrows raised in surprise.

Sif nodded with a smile. "Broken or no, they are still teenagers. Don't you remember what seventeen and sixteen looked like for us?"

Thor glanced protectively towards his daughter – so, yes, he did very well remember – but then said, "Ryan's a much better boy than I was at his age."

"Is Andy?"

"…I sometimes doubt it…"

"And is not Andy largely the driving force behind Ryan and Eif becoming closer?"

"He can be when he wants to be."

"Then that means that he's going to nudge them a bit here and there until he gets his way; is that not a reasonable assumption?"

"Very well," Thor agreed with another glance towards the kitchen. "A week from now."

* * *

And a week it was exactly. Despite the conversation between Ryan and Eif, there really wasn't any great change in their behavior towards one another, because, perhaps, there had next to always been that undercurrent there between them of one waiting for the other to make a first move. Then, on the evening before Sif's predicted one-week mark, Andy got to pick the movie that the JID kids watched.

"A cult classic for the girls tonight, ladies and gentlemen," Andy said, settling back against the couch cushions with Hazel and the remote.

"What movie is it?" Hazel asked cautiously, thinking the same thing as the others.

If it was a movie "for the girls" than he had an ulterior motive for making them watch it.

"A girl falls in love, but boy disappears and the then-broken girl is unwillingly swept into the arms of a treacherous prince only to have her true love come rescue her from the horrible royal in a movie otherwise known as _The Princess Bride_."

Ryan put his tongue in his cheek, eyes flashing as he resisted the inclination to sigh or say something sharp to Andy, and instead settled onto the floor to watch the film.

* * *

"Well, my good Lady Sif," Thor said quietly in her ear the next morning as they settled in two seats at the bar for breakfast with everyone else in the JID level. "Today is your one week mark; do you think there will be any wild declarations of teenage love before night's end?"

"I don't know," Sif mused, regarding Eif and Ryan as the former did a back flip and wink for the latter. "We'll just have to keep an eye on them."

* * *

"My leg hurts; I need someone to help me walk. Ow, ow, ow," Scarlet whined pitifully so that Hayne would wrap an arm around her waist as they went into the kitchen.

Andy snorted, rolling his eyes at her antics.

"'You mock my pain'!" Scarlet said sharply, quoting _The Princess Bride_.

"'Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.'"

"Oh, come on, Andy!" Hazel complained. "There are so many better quotes in that movie than that one!"

"Really? Because that one's definitely my favorite."

"Hello?! 'As you wish'? That's like the most romantic thing ever."

Andy smirked, answering, "'As you wish'" before giving Hazel a quick peck on the lips.

Hazel rolled her eyes fondly at him before asking, "What about you, Dakota? What's your favorite _Princess Bride _quote?"

"I guess mine is a little weird..." Dakota admitted. "I like the one where she asks him to get the pitcher for her – the whole subtext there is just really cool I think. She's asking him to do this really small thing for her, but what she's really saying is 'I love you no matter what – if you'll take me.' She's asking a totally bland question, but putting her heart on her sleeve at the same time in this moment that's just for her and him, and it's really, really sweet."

Listening to their conversation, Eif smiled and then paused, hand midway to the open cabinet and a cereal bowl as a sudden idea struck her.

"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, noticing the nervously thoughtful look on her face as he came up beside her.

_Yes. No. Yes. Should I? Am I ready? No. _And then she looked at Ryan, at the concerned blue eyes searching her face. She trusted Ryan. She _liked _Ryan. A lot. _That _way. _Yes; I'm ready._

She took a deep breath, heart hammering nervously in her ears, and asked in a very small voice while pointing to the cabinet, "'Fetch me that pitcher?'"

Ryan blinked, surprise washing over his features as he glanced over her shoulder at Dakota and then back at her. Slowly, his steady gaze never quite leaving her face, he reached up and grabbed a bowl, setting it on the counter as he continued to watch her carefully, his eyes asking if she was saying what he thought she was.

Eif smiled shakily at him, confidence growing as she reached out and took his hand.

That's when the sudden thought hit her and she whispered just for the two of them to hear, "You've never been kissed before, have you?"

Ryan just barely shook his head and Eif thought she heard his breathing hitch.

"I've never actually wanted to be kissed before I met you," she murmured.

He took a subconscious step towards her, free hand fluttering near her arm before he stopped himself and said, "Only when and if you're sure you're ready."

She took a step of her own towards him, that same small but completely genuine smile gracing her features as she answered, "I am. I trust you."

Then she leaned in and kissed him, smiling against his mouth when he responded, quick and sweet before someone took too much notice of what was going on between them.

Ryan whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you trust me, but the thing is, Eif, I loveyou."

Her smile broadened then as she said softly, "I love you, too."

So this was what it felt like – that giddy feeling of butterflies in your stomach when you fall for your first love. Eif decided that she liked it. It was definitely nice – better this way. A hand to hold, a first kiss, the tentative steps towards a new relationship.

Although, there had been a lot of those recently – tentative steps towards new relationships – between a lot of different people, and not just romantically. Sure, there was Sif and her father and even her and Ryan. But there was also the way that Andy and Hayne now had a dozen projects going in the lab with Bruce and Tony. There was the way her father was teaching her how to make the best use of her being able to call her sword to her. There was the way that Dakota had started turning into quite the little business woman under Pepper's tutelage, and how Clint and Natasha were helping Blaine and Scarlet sharpen their skills with their weapons of choice. There was the way that Bruce had started teaching Hazel breathing techniques so that she could control her "friend" when she felt like it. There was the immeasurable amount of patience and understanding Steve had in teaching Ryan how to use modern technology, just as Captain America had to learn in the past.

But they weren't really looking at the past much anymore. As a group, they were looking towards the future – the bright future full of many possibilities for them all – and they had become more than one big group. Somewhere within the time after the Avengers had met the JID kids, they had started to become something even better. They became a family.

* * *

**Thus we reach the end... Hopefully you guys enjoyed this series; if so, reviews are a great reward that make my day! Thanks! And thanks for sticking with me through the whole series!:)**


End file.
